Scow.



`818887884. 'PATENTED MAY 19, 1908.

SCOW.

APPLIUATIION FILED JUNE 8. 1907.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. J. H. GERRISH.

SGOW.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JUNE a. 1907.

a SHBETSAHBET s.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFTQ.

JOHN H. GERRISH, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SGOW.

Application led June 3, 1907.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. GERRIsH, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Scows, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in eX- plaining its nature.

As scows are now constructed the emptying of a scow after it has been loaded is a serious matter. Oftentimes hours and even days are spent in emptying a scow. The difliculty resides in the fact that the dumping doors are usually narrower than the width of the scow or the width of the mudreceiving well and wet mud is apt to pack, especially if it is of a clayey nature, and so clog the outlet after the dumping doors have been opened.

My invention is intended to remedy this diiiiculty.

It primarily consists in dividing the scow into a plurality of mud-receiving sections or wells, each section having its own dumping doors and comprising preferably three compartments, viZ,-a middle compartment located over the dumping doors and two side compartments separated from the middle compartment by means of swinging partitions normally vertical or substantially so and forming the side walls of the side compartments, the bottom or end walls of which are preferably slanted towards the opening which the dumping doors make when opened. By this means when the doors are opened the contents of the middle compartment will free at once downward without obstruction through the bottom of the compartment. After the middlel compartment has been emptied the partitions separating it from the the side compartments, as above referred to, are released so that the load behind each partition will slide out of the side compartments and through the opening which the release of the dum ing doors has made.

A further di 'culty with scows resides in the fact that it is very diflicult to close the dumping doors after they have once been opened. The doors are very heavy and yet it has been customary to close these doors by hand for the reason that no power is ordinarily carried on a scow.

It is accordingly a further object of my invention to provide means whereby the dump- Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, i908.

Serial No. 377,074.

ing doors of a scow, or other movable partitions thereof may be conveniently closed by power obtained from the dredge whichusually accompanies the scow, such means moreover being so adapted that the dumping doors and partitions in my improved scow may be closed or manipulated in successive order, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

My invention further relates, also, to various incidents of construction all of which can best be seen and understood by reference to the drawings, in which- Figure l represents in plan the scow with an accompanying dredge, to the relationship of which special reference will hereinafter be made. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows a plan of a portion of the scow in enlarged detail. Fig. 5 shows in plan a detail of the apparatus to which special reference will hereinafter be made, and Fig. 6 shows a cross section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

In the drawings A represents the scow and B the dredge accompanying the scow. The dredge is shown only diagrammatically. The scow is divided into a plurality of mud# receiving sections or wells A1, A2, A3 and A4. The number of wells may of course vary, but I prefer to divide the scow into four. These mud-receiving sections or wells are similar in construction and a description of one will be sufficient for all. EachA of them is divided preferably into three compartments, a middle compartment a, and adjoining side compartments al, 0,2, respectively, which are separated from the middle compartment by the respective doors or partitions 0,3, a4 which are hung from hinges a5, a5 located substantially on a level with the deck of the scow. The dumping doors c6 form the bottom of the middle compartment. These doors are supported to open outwardly in the usual manner.

a7, a8 indicate, respectively, the bottoms to the side compartments, and it is to be noted that these bottoms slant abruptly towards the dumping doors forming the bottom of the middle compartment, as before described.

With reference to the partitions a3, c4 separating the middle from the side comartments: These partitions hang substantially vertically and reach practically to the bottom of the scow. While the partitions might hang absolutely vertically, under ordinary circumstances I prefer that they be so maintained (for example, by chains as I will hereinafter explain), that they will incline outwardly, or in other words, be a little farther separated from one another at their lower ends than the distance between their i supporting hinges a5, for in such case a slight clearance is allowed, that is to say, when the dumping doors a are opened there can be no crowding as the contents of the middle compartment falls from the scow, for the mass of mud in this compartment is narrower at the top than at the bottom and it cannot clog as it alls out.

The partitions 0,3, a4 are controlled, respectively, by chains a am, which connect with these lpartitions and extend up to become wounc around the ends of an operating shaft a located on the superstructure of the scow at one side of the well. In this connection it is to be observed that the chain as is secured directly to the partition a3. The chain al", however, extends over a pulley mounted on the superstructure of the scow at the side of the well, thence down over a pulley x1 mounted on the bottom a8 on the side compartment, thence over a pulley x2 mounted upon the partition a4, from which point the chain is carried back to be fixed to a clevis connecting with the axis of the pulley x1. The chains a, alo are secured to the shaft au by hooking onto collars 0,12 located' thereon. At one end of this shaft there is located a drum au* having the usual openings therein for the reception of a bar or other operating instrument by which the shaft may be turned by hand to operate the chains connecting with the partitions. The shaft is also provided with an ordinary ratchet a, an incident to which is a holding pawl (1,15. The partitions are released to open simply by releasing the holding pawl 1,15 which permits the operating shaft all to turn and the chains to unwind therefrom. In this connection'it is to be observed that while the chains unwind with equal speed, yet with the arrangement above described the partitions will open successively and the contents of the side compartments controlled by these partitions become successively discharged. The reason for this is that the chain a9, as before explained, is connected directly to the partition a3 while the chain 0,10 extends over a pulley mounted on the partition a with the effect that the parti- A tion 0,4 will open only about half as fast as i ried up in proper' manner to wind upon the shaft al? located upon the superstructure of the scow at the side of the well opposite the shaft all on which the partition chains are wound. The chains al after being wound around their operating shaft are secured to a collar (L18 located on the shaft. The shaft (L17 on which are wound the chains connecting with the dumping doors may be controlled by hand by means of the hand windlass al located on one end thereof. Owing to the extreme difficulty of operating this shaft by hand due to the great weight of the dumping doors I have provided for operating this shaft by means of power obtained from the dredge accompanying the scow. Such provision exists primarily in fitting the shaft with a drum (L20. On this drum is wound a chain or rope @21 the end of which is secured to a hook @22 on the drum, and in this connection it is to be observed that the drum is provided with a plurality of hooks @22 in order that the end of the rope may be attached to the drum at almost any point of its periphery, which is an element of great convenience as is well known to those skilled in the art. mally free and provided with any suitable means by which it may connect with or grap-l ple onto the end of a rope or other connection controlled by power on the dredge. l) represents this rope normally located on the dredge, which is wound around a windlass b1 on the deck of the dredge to be operated thereby. Any suitable means may be provided on the dredge for actuating this windlass. I have shown it arranged on the end of an upright shaft b2 which is turned through the medium of suitable gearing by a horizontal shaft b3 turned by power.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows :--In the first place, after the several mud-receiving sections have become filled, they are emptied as before described by first releasing the dumping doors to open, by which the mud in the middle compartments falls out, then the partitions separating the compartments are released to empty the mud in the side compartments. Assuming that the scow has delivered its contents by the release of all the chains controlling the dumping doors and partitions and these doors and partitions are all open, the scow is then drawn up alongside the dredge in such position that the rope b on the dredge may conveniently be connected with the rope a2l on the drum of the first of the end mud-receiving sections or wells. By the application of power on the dredge, the dumping doors of this first section are then drawn to a closed position after which the two ropes are disconL nected. The relative position of the dredge and scow is then changed so that the rope l) may conveniently be connected with the drum of the next mud-receiving section or well of the scow and its dumping doors are drawn to a closed position, and so on until all the dumping doors of the scow have' been The end of the rope L21 is left nor-` closed. After this or at the same time the partitions may be closed by hand.

In order that a scow may come up on either side of a dredge for closing its dumping doors I have shown the scow provided with a windlass b on either side thereof. The two windlasses may be driven olf the same shaft. This, however, is a mere matter of mechanical detail.

While I have described the power on the dredge as being applied only for closing the dumping doors, it may by similar means be employed for closing the partitions between the mud-receiving compartments of the scow which as I explained before are controlled by hand. However, there is no need of controlling these partitions by power inasmuch as very little force is required to draw them to their position of closure and so hand-operated means may as conveniently be employed. In order that, however, the partitions may be controlled by power I have shown each of the shafts du, on which are wound the chains connecting with the partitions, provided with a winding drum (L23.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1d l. A scow having a well with an outlet, means for controlling said outlet, swinging partitions dividing said well into separate compartments, a winding shaft common to said partitions, and means connecting said partitions and shaft whereby upon turning said shaft said partitions may be successively opened.

2. A scow having a well, dumping doors controlling the exit therefrom, swinging partitions dividing said well into separate com partments, chains for controlling said dumping doors and said partitions, shafts located on different sides of said well with which said chains are adapted to make respective connection, and means whereby said shafts may separately be operated.

3. A scow having a well with an outlet, dumping doors controlling said outlet, swinging partitions dividing said well into separate compartments, chains for controlling said dumping doors and said partitions, shafts located on different sides of said -well with which said chains are adapted to make respective connection, and means whereby the shaft on which is wound the chain governing said dumping doors may be operated by power administered from a point extraneous to said scow.

4. A scow having a well with an outlet, dumping doors controlling said outlet, swinging partitions dividing said well into separate compartments, chains for controlling said dumping doors and said partitions, shafts located on different sides of said well with which said chains are adapted to make respective connection, and means whereby either of said shafts may be turned by power administered from a point extraneous to said scow.

JOHN H. GERRISH. In presence of- GEO. H. CHAMBERLIN, Gno. T. ATKINsoN. 

